One of the hostages released yesterday read a letter sent by the Abu Sayyaf rebel group over a radio station in Mindanao where the rebel group issued a fresh set of demands.

Lusi Bautista read the letter in which the group threatened to continue to attack and seize U.S. and European citizens and their property until total withdrawal of all U.S. and European troops including their business interests from the Middle East.

The group also called for the withdrawal of U.S. support to Israel whom they called perpetrators of the "illegitimate Zionist regime which continues to occupy the sacred land of Jerusalem". The Abu Sayyaf demanded the withdrawal of Philippines military troops in Basilan and Jolo, two of the group's strongholds in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not meet the two hostages who were flown out of Basilan to Manila aboard a commercial jet hours after they were freed by the Abu Sayyaf in the town of Lamitan on the southern island of Basilan.

They were met at the Manila airport tarmac by a heavily-armed convoy and whisked away. When they arrived in Manila, both Bautista and Chua were taken immediately to suburban Quezon City's police headquarters.

Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan told reporters after a debriefing that the two had lost weight and were "tired and a little shaken" by their ordeal.

"Arroyo realised they wanted to be with their relatives, and that they are still traumatised after two months of captivity," said presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao. "The release of the hostages indicates that military operations are succeeding and will continue," Tiglao added. Moro leaders said the pair were handed over to a local businessman at around 4:30 a.m. (2030 GMT Monday) and he brought them to military headquarters in Basilan.

Sources close to the family of one of the hostages said one of the pair was released after payment of at least three million pesos ($56,818) in ransom while the other was released for P500,000.

The Abu Sayyaf gunmen profess to be fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines but their main activity appears to be kidnap for ransom. Tiglao would not confirm reports that ransoms had been paid but conceded: "Our problem is we cannot run after the families or the negotiators who allegedly did this."